


Where Stars Align

by AnemoneGrey



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Fluff and Angst, For the most part, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Original Character(s), OC centric, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, Tags Are Hard, depends on how graphic my descriptions end up being, its a build up, the violence will come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-07-13 09:43:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16015334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnemoneGrey/pseuds/AnemoneGrey
Summary: Matt was just supposed to get the intel and get out. A simple mission.But when are things ever that straightforward?When he finds a prisoner in need he can't help but save the him. However, when no one can find any information on the mysterious stranger, the crew is left wondering where he came from and if they can trust him. Despite everything, Matt can't help but feel drawn to his new companion, and works to help him find his place, while getting the others to see what he does.





	1. Chapter 1

  
_Shit_ , Matt cursed as he narrowly avoided another sentry, _Way too close._ Lately he and the others had been working on gaining more intel on the Galra fleet for the coalition. But of course, the closest base to get the best info wasn’t just an outpost or a supply base, it was a prison. More than that, it was one of the prisons which hosted the gladiator fights. Matt hadn’t really wanted to go through with it; the thought of getting caught terrified him and he still remembered being brought to a place like this with Shiro. It may have even been this one, but he had been so overwhelmed and so frightened that the entire event was a bit of a blur.  


But he needed to focus on the present. Getting in had turned out to be the easy part, now that he had the information he needed he was on his way out, if he could avoid the sentries. Just a little further and he was home free. He was just a few corridors away from the hanger when-  


_Groooour…_  
The angry sound dragged out a bit and was accompanied by guards yelling. Matt turned his attention back to his current course, but found he could not ignore the sounds and searched for their source to investigate.

After a few twists and turns he came to an open cell where two guards seemed to be trying to keep whatever was inside from getting out. “Why do we even keep this thing around, it’s so unpredictable,” One asked, whilst thrusting his weapon at the prisoner.  


“I know,” the other replied, while he stabbed at the prisoner with his own weapon, “but he is good for getting rid of the ones that have out lived their usefulness.” They stabbed whatever, or whoever, was inside again causing a pained noise to come from the cell. Matt couldn’t stand it any longer. He charged at the guards, taking them by surprise and knocking them out with his staff.  


When he was sure they were down for the count, he peered into the cell and could barely make out a figure huddled into a dark corner. “Um, hello?” he asked, a little unsure of himself. He began to slowly enter the cell, inciting a muffled snarl from the creature. “I-it’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you.” Matt set his own weapon down and began to lower himself as he continued to approach. “I want to help.” He found himself looking into the alien’s green eyes, nearly luminous in the dark corner. Whoever it was seemed to be sizing him up, though whether to attack him, or simply judge him, he did not know.  


Before he knew it, Matt was within arms reach of the creature, who softly growled at him. “Please, I don’t want to hurt you. I can get you somewhere safe, just let me help.” He tentatively extended a hand, unsure of what kind of reaction he would get.  


The alien simply looked down at Matt’s extended hand, but seemed to see the truth in Matt’s words, though he said nothing, merely looked back at his rescuer and nodded. It was then that Matt realized the creature was wearing a muzzle, figuring it was the reason for the silence. Well, sort of silence. He reached out a little, but stopped short before asking, “Can I…” Again, he was met with silence; the alien locking eyes with him as Matt reached back to undo the clasp on the muzzle. His fingers brushed past the alien’s soft hair, and he hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until he felt the mechanism unclasp.  


The muzzle fell to the floor with a clatter, giving Matt a better look at the prisoner. Even in the dim light he could see that it had a strangely human face, though many of its features were clearly not human. It had large ears, almost deer-like? And a somewhat dog-like nose, or maybe it was like a deer’s too? He couldn’t actually tell, but in any case, it was clear that whoever he recused wasn’t human. “We should get going, I’m not sure how long those two will be out for, and we don’t wanna get caught by a patrol.” As he turned to get his staff, he became aware of the alien standing behind him, turning to not only find him fairly close, but about as tall as Shiro, and that was slouching. “Uh, stay close, okay? I’ll get us out of here.”  


Matt popped his head out of the cell to make sure there were no nearby patrols and motioned for his new companion to follow. He back tracked to his previous position, extremely aware of just how close his new “friend” was to him. As a patrol neared, he heard the creature begin to growl and motioned for him to stay quiet. Despite looking mildly offended, he complied, and the patrol passed without incident.  


\- **Matt, what’s taking so long?**  


It was Olia, of course. He should’ve known she’d check in, after all he should have already been back. “Sorry, I’m almost back now.”  


\- **What’s the hold up? Is everything okay?**  


“Everything’s fine, I…” he trailed off as he looked back at his new companion, deciding whether or not he should tell her. “I got a bit held up.” He decided against it, she’d probably give him an earful when they got to the ship, but he didn’t really feel like hearing it now. “I am never gonna hear the end of this.” Matt said to his companion, who simply cocked his head. “Let’s go.” The pair continued their way towards the rebel ship, slowly making their way through the corridors and narrowly avoiding the patrols. And just when they were about to make it-  


“Hey! Stop right there!”  


“Fuck!” Matt couldn’t believe he’d been so careless; though he could believe they would get caught at a moment like this because isn’t that how it always went down? “C’mon!” He grabbed his companion by the wrist and bolted for Olia’s ship, dodging enemy fire the whole way.  


After a few close calls, the pair practically dove onto the ship, causing its captain to turn in surprise. She looked at the pair, zeroing in on the new one asking, “Matt, what the hell?”  


“Just go!” He grabbed a blaster and managed to return a few shots before the ship got on its way. When they were a safe distance away Olia briefly turned back to Matt. “I’m only going to ask this one more time. What the hell?”  


Matt shrugged. “What? That didn’t go too badly.”  


“I meant that,” she pointed to the strange alien, “Seriously, you were sent to get information on the fleet, you came back with a prisoner!”  


“In my defense, I got the intel.”  


Olia raised an eyebrow in response.  


“What? I completed the mission and I rescued a prisoner. All around I’d say things went pretty well.” When she didn’t respond he continued. “They were practically torturing him! I couldn’t just leave him there!”  


She sighed, “You know what, fine, I don’t feel like getting into this right now. But you really should be more careful. And you,” Olia addressed the other, “Who are you anyway?”  


He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it before looking away with an almost pained expression. Matt noticed, Olia did not.  


“Fine, don’t tell me.”  


For the first time, Matt got a good look at the prisoner he had saved. He was tall, maybe around Shiro’s height, and wiry. His hair was a bit matted and dirty, stopping just around his shoulders, and his skin (or maybe fur?) was blue and light blue. The last thing he noticed was the long black tail, the end of which seemed to be twitching consistently as he looked warily around. The long fur was also matted, though it appeared to mainly be caused by dirt. Matt reached up and softly laid a tentative hand on his shoulder. He seemed to jump slightly, like the entire ordeal had set him on edge. “It’s gonna be okay. You’re safe now.” The prisoner said nothing, but the kind words seemed to calm him some and his expression softened. Matt smiled before becoming serious again. “We should get this information back to the paladins as soon as we can.”  


Olia wordlessly nodded, glancing back one more time to the stranger on her ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray! I finally finished my first fic, hope you like it! I've been working on this story for a while so I hope it goes over well. The rating might change as I write the later chapters, since it does get fairly violent.
> 
> I did kinda have a hard time figuring out the formatting, so it's a little blocky, but I managed to separate out the paragraphs so you should be able to read it okay!
> 
> Also, there are a few references I drew of the main character. I picture him a pretty specific way, but I'm afraid I'm not very good at describing him:  
> http://raggd0ll.tumblr.com/post/177292203637/abella-x-matt-color  
> http://raggd0ll.tumblr.com/post/178164310192/abella-references  
> EDIT: I have since changed the main character's color pattern and edited the chapter to show that. It's a small thing, but I didn't want it to pull anyone out of the story if I use the new description later. I'm working on chapter 2 now. Thx for your patience!!


	2. Chapter 2

“This shouldn’t be taking them so long, are we sure they’re okay?” Pidge asked to the assembled coalition on the bridge. She’d only just gotten her brother back and didn’t want to lose him again so soon. Shiro laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure they’re fine. Matt and Olia know what they’re doing.”

“I guess you’re right, maybe I’m worrying too much.”

Lance spoke up from the other side of the room, “Yeah, it’s not like they’d get themselves caught on a Galra prison ship full of guards and sentries around every corner, have a little faith.”  


Just as Pidge was about to respond to Lance’s extremely comforting remark the door to the bridge opened, allowing Olia to enter and toss the drive full of intel at the green paladin. “Sorry we took so long, Matt picked up a stray.” Her comment was met with confusion until Matt walked in with the former prisoner close behind.  


“I wish you wouldn’t call him that, I told you, he needed help and I couldn’t just ignore that…” Noticing that most of the room now sat in stunned silence he stopped arguing and tried to figure out what to say. “…uh…” Thankfully, he didn’t have to say anything because Pidge quickly stepped up to observe the fascinating new alien. “Interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like him in any of the castle databases.”  


Seeing the new human get so close the alien growled at her approach, unsure of his surroundings and place here. “Hey it’s okay!” Matt quickly stepped in to shield his sister and calm his new friend. “This is my little sister, Pidge, and these are the paladins of Voltron and some of the members of the coalition. No one is gonna hurt you here.” He stopped growling, but flicked his gaze warily from Matt to Kolivan and a few other members of the Blade at the other side of the room. Seeing his fear, Matt gently put his hands on either side of the alien’s face. “Look at me,” his voice was soft and caring. “I know you’re scared, and you have every right to be, but no one is going to hurt you here. Those Galra are part of the Blade of Marmora and they’re helping us take down Zarkon and the empire. They’re on our side. Okay?” He closed his eyes and bowed his head as if to say yes, but stuck close to Matt when the rebel turned away.  


Allura turned to the new comer, hoping to get his attention. “What’s your name, where are you from?” She asked kindly, but was met with silence. He looked away with the same pained expression as when Olia had asked. Matt stepped in to try and help, but there wasn’t much he could do. “I- I’m not sure. He hasn’t said a single thing since I found him.”  


“Seriously?” Lance asked, from where he was standing with Hunk. “You saved his life, but he won’t tell you his name? He didn’t even thank you? Call me crazy but doesn’t that seem a little, I dunno, odd?”  


“Maybe he can’t understand us?” Hunk offered, trying to give the new alien the benefit of the doubt.  


“No, Lance is right. It’s a kind of strange for him to say nothing at all. Not even attempt to tell us who he is. Besides, he didn’t seem to have any trouble understanding Matt or Allura.” Keith spoke up from where he was standing with the Kolivan and the other members of the Blade.  


The alien cautiously moved to stand somewhat behind Matt, gripping the human’s shoulder tightly. Matt couldn’t help but feel for his companion. He had been imprisoned by the Galra for however long, and now he had been brought somewhere strange and unknown, surrounded by people that didn’t trust him.  


“Can I…?” The alien tilted his head when Pidge approached slowly, curiosity sparkling in her brown eyes. “Can I examine you? I mean, it might be helpful if I can get a closer look.”  


He turned to Matt for guidance, ears laid back and fear in his eyes, but the rebel merely gave a reassuring smile. “She won’t hurt you.”  


“I only want to collect more data. Maybe if we know more, we can figure out where you came from.” She led the alien over to an empty seat so that she could get a better view of him. Matt smiled at is sister. Not only was she insanely smart, but kind too, and he silently thanked her for taking his companion out of the crossfire.  


Olia put a hand to her temple, as if trying to relieve a headache (she probably was). “Why did I let you talk me into this?”  


“Uh, you didn’t. They were shooting at us and we kinda had to leave.”  


“Oh, that’s right. Because you just dove onto the ship with an unplanned rescue and I had to take off to avoid getting caught. You were taking so long to get back I almost thought that you got caught!”  


“Hey, I was trying to do the right thing!”  


“Doing the right thing doesn’t involve putting everyone at risk!”  


“Guys that’s enough.” Shiro stepped in. “This is getting out of hand.”  


Allura turned to Matt; the rebel still seemed on edge, but her concerns had to be voiced. “Matt I’m sure you meant well, but we know nothing about him. Was it really safe to bring him here?”  


“Allura is right,” Keith said, “We don’t know why he was in that prison. For all we know he could actually be a criminal.”  


“I can’t believe this. You guys act like I brought some kind of wild animal on board. I know it was a risk but he needed someone. The rebels saved me, I’m not gonna just leave someone to suffer when I know I can do something.” Matt’s stance on the subject was clear and he was adamant that he be taken seriously. After all, who were they to turn away a creature in need?  


“Um… guys?” Pidge spoke up from where she was sitting with the subject of all the controversy.  


Shiro turned to the green paladin, already concerned. “Is something wrong?”  


“Kinda, but not really? I guess it depends on how you look at things.”  


“What do you mean?” Shiro asked.  


“Well, there’s nothing about him, or anything like him, in the castle database. No planet of origin, no language, just… nothing. I can match some of his features to a few different races, but nothing matches all of them.”  


“So, what you’re saying is…” Keith began.  


“What I’m saying is that essentially he doesn’t exist.” Pidge finished.  


Matt shook his head. “Wait. What do you mean he doesn’t exist?”  


“What do you think I mean? Yeah, he obviously exists in the physical sense, he’s sitting right there. But the castle has no information on anything like him. Ergo, he doesn’t exist.”  


“Maybe it just doesn’t have the info…” Matt said, both trying to make sense of the situation and keep things from escalating further.  


“Matt, the castle is 10,000 years old with and extensive database. If there was something, anything at all, it would show up. But there’s just nothing.” The crew looked at the stranger. Matt looked at him as well, still sitting in front of Pidge staring at the floor, as though he was afraid to met anyone’s eyes. When he looked away, he found that everyone had turned to him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”  


Olia gave a disgruntled sigh. “Maybe because you took in a Galra prisoner we know nothing about that apparently doesn’t exist! What if he’s one of the witch’s experiments? What if he turns out to be some kind of spy?”  


“You don’t know that! Besides, even if he was one of her experiments, why treat him like that? Why put him in prison?”  


“I don’t know. Maybe he couldn’t be controlled. We don’t what he is or where he came from. He could be dangerous!”  


“You’re talking like he isn’t even a person. Like he isn’t sitting right there!” Matt gestured to where his companion sat, well within hearing of the entire argument. “Besides, you weren’t there, you didn’t see the way they treated him. You didn’t see the look in his eyes when I told him I was there to help. He needed me, and right now we need all the help we can get.” Matt’s small tirade was met with silence, no one quite sure how to move forward. He looked back at the alien he’d saved, still staring at the floor, the same pained expression as before marring his features. He’d heard everything, how could he not? Taken from torture and brought to a place where he was unwanted. Except for Matt. The older Holt sibling had offered safety in a place of pain. Who was he to deny that? But where had that gotten him? The safe place he’d been promised only turned out to be yet another space of conflict, and this time, he was the cause.  


Finally, Shiro broke the deafening silence that pervaded the bridge. “What do you think princess?”  


Allura thought for a moment before speaking. “Honestly, I’m not sure what to think. But Matt’s right, we need all the help we can get.” She turned to him, “Do you really think we can trust him?”  


Matt met the princess’s gaze head on. “I know we can.”  


“Then I suppose he should get cleaned up. He can’t stay like that.” She said, motioning towards him.  


Olia sighed. “I think you’re all crazy, but if we’re really gonna do this then he should stay with us so Matt can keep and eye on him.” The rebel captain turned to her crewmate. “You brought him into this, he’s your responsibility.”  


“I understand.”  


Olia responded with a curt nod. “There might be some extra clothes in one of the supply crates on the ship, see if you can dig something out for him.” Matt nodded and crossed to where the former prisoner still sat. “Hey,” he said before placing a hand on his shoulder, “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” He stood and followed closely behind Matt as they left the bridge, still looking to the floor.  


When they were a good distance from the bridge, Matt turned back to his companion. He knew there’d be silence, but this was more than simply a lack of anyone speaking. The tension from the argument still hung in the air around them, and Matt knew that what had been said must have gotten to his new friend.  


_…he’s your responsibility…_  


Olia’s words echoed in his mind. She was right of course. Matt had pulled him into this mess, it was only fair he look after him. “Hey,” he moved to try and get the alien’s attention. “Hey, look at me. I’m sorry about what happened back there. I didn’t know they would react like that, but I guess everyone’s been a little on edge lately. Yeah, we’ve been making some good progress, but there’s really no telling how long until something major goes down. Plus, I guess since we have been making such progress, they’re…” he sighed, running a hand through his hair, “I dunno, nervous about another unknown. Since we can’t find anything they don’t know if they can trust you with… all of this, but I know we can. Please, don’t give up on them. I promise I won’t give up on you.” He smiled reassuringly and was happy to receive a small smile in return. “Now let’s find you something to wear.”  


Once on the ship Matt had to rummage though a few crates before finding one that contained a few items of clothing. It took a while to find something that might have fit his new friend, considering how damn tall he was and the slim pickings available. Matt finally pulled out a pair of pants, an orange short-sleeve shirt with grey side panels, and a couple of brown belts. “These should fit you.” He said, handing them over. “I think.” He shrugged, patting the alien on the shoulder as he turned to leave. “C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up now.”  


Matt gave him a cursory tour of the castle on the way to a bathroom so he could wash off all the dirt and grime. He turned on the water before leaving, smiling again on his way out. “I’ll be right out here if you need me, okay?” The alien nodded and set the clothes down after Matt had gone. As he turned, he caught his reflection in a mirror, leaning in close to inspect his own face. He turned his head this way and that, finding small scars that cut though his face on either side, just below his eyes. He touched one of the scars, then the mirror, letting his hard fingertips clink on the glass. It was as though he was trying to recognize himself, to find out who the face in the mirror belonged to.

*******

Matt sat outside the bathroom waiting, and waiting. He wasn’t sure how long it was before the door opened, but he knew it took longer than he thought it would. Was he really surprised though? The alien he had saved was a creature covered in matted, dirty fur. Of course, it was going to take a while to get clean. But what a difference it made. It was almost surprising to think the alien standing in the doorway in rebel attire was the same creature that had entered. He looked much better after washing up. The colors of his fur were brighter, his tail looked sleek and soft (though it would be much fluffier once fully dried), and altogether he looked much more content. What surprised Matt most though, was his hair. Before, the color of the matted, dingy locks had been difficult to distinguish, but now he saw the bright silvery-grey of the sleek mane.  


The clothes, however, were a different story. They fit, for the most part. But the pants came up a little short, about mid-calf, and the shirt hung awkwardly off his too thin frame. He must have been a fighter, Matt thought, since the alien seemed to be muscular, albeit in a thin, wiry way which pointed towards a lack of proper diet. He also noticed multiple scars crisscrossing the alien’s forearms, and a few that peeked out from under his sleeves. As he was taking in the alien’s new appearance, a thought suddenly crossed Matt’s mind. “I forgot to introduce myself,” he said, partially to his companion, but mostly to himself. “So, you probably realized this from all the… everything going on back there, but my name’s Matt, and no matter what they say I’m glad to have you with us.” The alien stared at him a moment before smiling softly, a smile which Matt returned. “We should head back. Maybe we can find something for your arms on the way back.”  


On the way to the bridge, Matt had found some bandages to wrap his companion’s arms. The pair received a few looks upon entering, but for the most part everyone seemed to be invested in the intel he had gathered from the prison earlier. That was fine with him. After all the crap that had gone done before he was content being left alone.  


Well, not really alone. But a silent companion was still good.  


As Matt wrapped the alien’s forearms, he noticed something rather odd about his fingers. “Hey Pidge, look at this.” He called his sister over to see for herself. “Look at his fingertips. They’re solid. Almost like- “  


“Hooves.” Pidge finished, while adjusting her glasses. “I noticed earlier when I got a closer look at him. You should see his feet, their structure in unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”  


“His feet?” Matt raised an eyebrow at that. Feet? Really?  


The green paladin scoffed. “Don’t give me that look, I was trying to find out more about him and just, look- “she paused, tapping the alien’s ankle, “May I?” After receiving a quick nod, she lifted the foot and continued. “First of all, the tips of his fingertips are like hooves, but his feet are clawed.”  


“Huh, looks like a cat’s foot.”  


“Exactly. Now watched this.” Pidge gently stretched the foot back, exposing more of the bottom and revealing it to be almost human-like.  


Matt was stunned to say the least. “That’s… weird.”  


“I know. His feet seem to be structured in a way that allows him to alternate between walking on the soles of his feet, like a human, or walking on his toes, like a dog or cat. He seems to default to his toes for some reason though.” She set the foot down and nodded a small thanks before standing. “Matt you may have found the most physiologically interesting creature I’ve ever seen.”  


Matt ran a hand through his hair. “That makes two of us.” The rebel thanked her for trying to help earlier and finished wrapping the alien’s arms, then decided to wrap his legs and feet as well considering it might be safer with the way he walked. He finished just as the meeting began to wrap up, and was helping his companion stand when Hunk spoke.  


“So, what are we gonna do about the new guy? I mean, I know we pretty much covered that earlier, but what are we gonna call him?”  


Keith shrugged, “We don’t know his name. And it doesn’t seem like he’s going to speak up anytime soon.”  


Hunk rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, yeah, but we can’t just be like ‘hey you’ all the time, right? Can’t we give him like a nickname or something? At least until we find out more.”  


“What about Blue?” All assembled looked at Lance. “What? It’s the first thing I thought of.”  


Matt felt his eyebrow twitch. “Any other ideas?”  


“How about Fawne?” This time they looked to Pidge.  


“Fawne?” Shiro questioned.  


“Yeah. Some parts of his anatomy remind me a little of a deer. Especially his ears.” She reached up to poke one of his ears which involuntarily flicked at the contact. He shot her a look of mild offense, but didn’t react otherwise.  


“Hmmm, Fawne…” Matt thought about it for a moment. “It’s not that bad. What do you say,” he turned to the alien. “Is it alright if we call you Fawne?” He stared at Matt a moment before nodding.  


Shiro smiled. “Then I guess it’s official. Welcome to the coalition, Fawne.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're still reading I want to thank you so much! It took a while to get this chapter in order, but I hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> Please let me know if you have any questions about what's going on, I'd be more than happy to clear things up if if won't spoil the story. 
> 
> Happy reading!


End file.
